TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: That the Margao civic body’s anti-encroachment drives are a sham and an exercise in futility may never be in dispute in the corridors of the A-class municipality.
But realisation may soon dawn on the city fathers and civic babus that the municipality spends huge money on the anti-encroachment squads constituted by the civic body.
Information revealed that the anti-encroachment squads comprises over a dozen employees and workers, headed by market inspectors, supervisors and workers. Their monthly salary bill, sources said, runs over Rs 2.5 lakh, and not to mention the expenses on fuel used to ferry the staff and lift the seized goods from the market passages and footpaths.
Now, senior civic officials admit in private that the revenue generated from the anti-encroachment drives do not even come close to the money spent on the exercise. The end result is neither the anti-encroachment drives have achieved the desired objective nor has the civic body any time recovered the funds spent on the exercise.
The reasons are not far too seek. Officials in the know say the Margao Municipality has no mechanism in place to auction the goods seized during the anti-encroachment drives. The civic body follows a practice wherein the seized goods are returned back to the traders and owners after imposing a paltry fine. This practice, officials say, neither acts as a deterrent to the encroachers nor generates any revenue to the civic body.
Sources said that vested interests in the civic body have consistently opposed any move to auction the seized goods from the markets. These interests have also opposed any plans for a substantial hike in the fine amount, leaving the personnel of anti-encroachment squad demoralised and dejected. “When we lift the encroachments and transport them to the civic body, civic babus impose a fine as a matter of formality. The fine acts as no deterrent to the encroachers as seized goods are returned back upon payment of a paltry fine. By evening, the goods make their presence felt at the same spot”, remarked civic officials.
When contacted, MMC Market Committee Vice-Chairperson Pratima Coutinho agreed that returning back the goods after imposing meagre fine has failed to deter encroachers. “When I asked Chief Officer Deepali Naik why the civic body shies away from auctioning the seized goods, she says there’s no godown to store the goods”, Coutinho said.
